They don’t know how good they’ve got it! Why, when I was in high school, there was no such thing as deep, blackish-red drugstore nail polish, no sirree! If we wanted black-red polish, dammit, we bought NOVELTY black polish at HALLOWEEN and painted red OVER it!

And we didn’t have Hot Topic, either! These spoiled baby-goth youngsters today! All they have to do is get Mom to drive them to the local MALL, and they can buy all the Marilyn Manson t-shirts (do kids still listen to Marilyn Manson? I’m dating myself, aren’t I?) and Atreyu CDs (someone who’s familiar with this emu emo crap help me out, I’m dying here) they want! Why, when I was in high school, we had to drive ALL THE WAY DOWNTOWN to an INDEPENDENT store for that kinda thing!

And also! There were no fancy-schmancy “fashion” dog collars, nope! By god, if you wanted a studded dog collar, you went to a PET STORE and you BOUGHT a studded dog collar! And then you put it on your gay friend at Halloween and led him around on a leash and some guy told you you were going to hell! Built CHARACTER, it did!

In all seriousness, the mid-90s were rough on us counter-culture kids, style-wise. They really were. I’m not kidding when I say that the only time extremely dark makeup was available was at Halloween, or that I bought a dog collar at a pet store because that was the only place that sold them.

This is part of why, despite my mixed reactions to their products, there’s a soft spot in my heart for Urban Decay. They came on the scene around my junior or senior year of high school (1996, according to Wikipedia, so yep, junior/senior year) and they had edgy colors that I loved, with names like MILDEW. GASH. BRUISE. ROACH. As I recall, they were the first mainstream company to offer colors like that with names like that (correct me if I’m wrong!). I’d hazard a guess that this is also part of why Jette has a soft spot for MAC; back then, she wore this incredibly dark lipstick of theirs, and their black eyeliner, and I suspect that MAC was the only place that she could find colors that really spoke to her–that actually helped her to express who she was and how she felt.

And furthermore, although I’m pretty much done with the whole “goth” thing, this is also why I’m tickled pink to see companies like Detrivore, Evil Shades, High Voltage, and Morgana Minerals out there. I feel like, in some way, they get me. Like they were also frustrated as hell with what was available, and with makeup that existed only to make people look conventionally “pretty,” not to let them express themselves. And it does my heart good to know that they didn’t just sit back and bemoan their fate and continue wearing the crappy waxy Halloween lipstick–they went out there and started their own businesses and are making high-quality, quirky cosmetics that I would have KILLED for in high school.

I don’t mean to get all “old-person rant” on ya. Just wanted to give a little bit of perspective on where I’m coming from–where I’ve been, and how things were, and how they are now, and why I’m so into this stuff. I feel like I finally have the chance to let the 15-year-old Principessa out … it just happened to take an additional 15 years.

Well, I can tell you that, at Brazil, being a goth is much the same as the old times….
At São Paulo (which is bigger than some European countries, I mind saying. Actually… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo) there’s only ONE mall that sells “rock” stuff, and it’s called “Galeria do Rock” (Rock’s Gallery) where half of the stores sells head-banger’s stuff and the other half sells emo stuff. There’s only one store to get Siouxsie and the Banshees t-shirts and they know that, so they kill you with their prices. x.x

Also, MAC is way too expansive to most people (around 30$ an eyeshadow, lols), so most have to improvise with regular make-up (since it’s quite rare to own international credit cards here. I’m a very very lucky child)

My aunt works making clothes, so she’s the one who makes my goth outfits! ^^ I’m very lucky to have her around!

We also don’t have lots of places to go out and dance. Until last year, I had to cross the city to go to the Theatre of the Vampires, once a month….

Still, I can’t even imagine how hard it was to my mommy (who was a goth in the 80’s)… I mean… I’ve got the internet and everything! O.o
And an aunt that sews my outfits….

Thanks to the internet, for those who can afford getting stuff internationally, everything is quite easier.

I wonder, if I have a child and he/she becomes into alternative stuff, how it’ll be….

Hm… I guess I should learn to sew! hahaha!

Sorry for my english mistakes! I hope it’s not hard to understand what I mean!

Hey Cacau, thanks for sharing your experiences! I understood perfectly. 🙂 That’s interesting that it’s tough to be goth in Brazil. Thank goodness for the Internet!

I totally understand “improvising with regular makeup,” too … that’s what I pretty much did all through high school! And learning to sew is a great idea. I’m a big believer in learning to do things yourself–you’re a lot more likely to get them done the way you want them that way!

Oh, goodness. What a blast from the past. You’re SO right, though, we had it SO much harder! And it is wonderful that now we have all of these amazing options. And you’re probably also right about the reason I love MAC. My loyalty is undying, o MAC. You helped me get through high school.

AHAHAHA. No one listens to Marilyn Manson 😛 Atreyu was cool about 5 years ago. Hot Topic is mostly about Lady Gaga and Hello Kitty now, which I am fine with because I love both 😀 But there is a really cool indie cd/dvd store downtown, they sell used dvds for $5-7, so I love going there.

I am so glad that my generation has the internet so that I can find companies like these. It was awesome to be getting into makeup, and so easily finding so many cheap, bright, great quality places. By the time I am order I will have such an insane makeup collection, hehe. I still won’t buy MAC though. Too expensive! Too many product releases! It’s confusing and overwhelming. I love UD though 🙂

Urban Decay came out just when I was at University getting on the internet and in a country with no distributors. Some people think I moved to the States for the readily available Diet Dr. Pepper, but really… UD.